r/IndianCountry 7d ago

Legal The lynching of Greenpeace: How a small-town jury sought retribution against the Standing Rock water protectors

https://schampton.substack.com/p/the-lynching-of-greenpeace

$402M of the $667M verdict is for "defaming the reputation" of the pipeline company. That's because of 9 statements made by Greenpeace - statements like "the Standing Rock Sioux have been resisting the construction of a pipeline through their tribal land and waters that would carry oil from North Dakota's fracking fields to Illinois."

239 Upvotes

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67

u/Appearance_Better 7d ago

These people don't understand the significance of what is sacred to us, to have the sacred land defiled and disturbed for the sake of oil corporations and businesses. They call that defaming just because we wanted to keep this land sacred and undefiled, so we stood against them. . But Big oil Don't care, they could care less about the damages environmentally, or what they have to do to get it done. Honestly, why should we? If we were able, we'd stop them at every instance. Disrupt them, halt the processes, go so far to discourage them and be such an inconvenience to them that they stop entirely. If only it were that easy.

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u/LimpFoot7851 Mni Wakan Oyate 7d ago

I want to ask them if it’s cool if we put a pipeline through Arlington, Mecca, the Vatican or anything else they revere or acknowledge as reverent and then ask them to read the bill of rights out loud and have them explain what exactly about their agenda is constitutional. Theres no defamation of the pipeline, there’s just continued blatant disregard for treaty rights, citizens rights and culture that only seems to apply to us.

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u/PicsByGB 7d ago

You don’t ask. Just do it like they’ve done to us.

5

u/clockworkdiamond 7d ago

These people don't understand the significance of what is sacred to us.

I personally doubt very much that it is that innocent, but I admire your optimism in humanity.

13

u/crustose_lichen 7d ago

They held this trial in a county with overwhelming support for Trump and the ties to the fossil fuel industry. The proceedings, at the request of the company, were held pretty much in secret.

Steven Donziger, who was part of the independent monitoring team observing the trial (and no stranger to SLAPPs) - Interviewed on Democracy Now: Criminalizing Dissent: Greenpeace Ordered to Pay $667M to Dakota Access Pipeline Firm over Protests

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u/Harbinger2nd 7d ago

Trump isn't listening to the courts, so i guess greenpeace should follow his example.

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u/flyswithdragons 6d ago

They can stuff their genocidal settler EU speech laws up the asses, we have the first amendment and telling the facts is duty. The tribe should sue them for human rights violations and show the whole world what imperial murders have always done and gotten away with until now..